Brave teenager has major brain surgery to aid movement

BRAVE teenager Louise Fisher underwent major brain surgery as a last ditch attempt to help her achieve her modest dream of gaining more control of her body.

The 13-year-old, who suffers with athetoid cerebral palsy, is recovering in King’s College Hospital, London after undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation – a procedure normally used for Parkinson’s or
Dystonia sufferers.

Athetoid cerebral palsy is a rare form of the condition, which affects the cerebellum or basal ganglia and may cause involuntary, purposeless movements, especially in the face, arms, and trunk.

Her parents Neil and Heather are hoping this latest treatment may finally give the teen, who studies at Commonweal School’s physically impaired unit, what she wants most as she currently has to
operate a computer with her chin and goes either floppy or stiff in reaction to loud noises.

But dad Neil, 45, said it was only her determination to go under the knife that persuaded them to go ahead with the risky operation.

He said: “It was scary having to sign the form – it said things like there is a chance of a stroke, a chance of death. As a parent how do you sign that?

“But she wanted it done because she hopes it will give her a better lifestyle and help her in the future. It will hopefully give her better control of her movement.

“She was under anaesthetic for six hours and it was horrendous. But we’ve tried everything – you name it we have given it a go. We’ve been to Hungary for conductive education and Oxford and now
London.”

Louise, who plays wheelchair football and is a keen computer user, said she was feeling good after the surgery and was looking forward to seeing her friends at Common-weal after the week-long stay
in hospital.

Neil said: “She does not want much – she just wants it to help her and stop her jumping so much, so she can be more independent and her hand skills can improve.

“She chose to do it to boost her chance to things she was not doing before.”